Insult to Injury
by StarfirePhantom
Summary: XANA comes to Kadic, in a material form, to kill the Lyoko Gang...but it does not go as well as expected. He ends up trapped in his material form...stuck as a human. Did I mention that virtual dictators somehow have good taste for coffee? Read and Review
1. Prologue: Formation

Yay!

Another attempt at CL fic!

Yes, I know. Update URtrip already. Do I even have to say it :(

This was a lil concept that started at LyokoFreak. The concept? What would happen if XANA, after leaving the supacompy, gave himself a material form and walked among humans?

The answer. One of the most intense, terrifying, confusing, wierd, and funny material XANA fics thou hast readeth. Actually, it's like my own Season 3! Yay!

Let's just get on with it.

NOTE: MAYJAH spoilers for Season 2, specially the finale. I don't know if UK has these eps yet, but I don't think they do, so if you live in the UK or have not seen Revelation and The Key (yes, both), DO NOT READ THIS FICCY. Rating may go up. Please tell me if you find any continuinity errors.

Pairings: JxA, UxY, OxS, and, even, XxS or (Gosh Forbid) XxA.

Note: Just found a BIG continuinity error. It's supposed to be the end of the semester...stoopid meh. It'll be fixed the best I can.Dumb XANA...vewwy, vewwy dumb...maybe I could play this up...

* * *

**Prologue: Formation**

_Date: The night of 'The Key'  
Time: 11:30 PM  
Place: ...Just look down._

Kadic Grounds Forest.

A quiet, serene place, even in the fearful amplification of the night. All that could be heard in this unholy silence was the occasional rustling of a sparrow, the hooting of an owl. Aside from a standout manhole, there for no real purpose at all, and a small, decrepit house, there for no real purpose at all, all was trees...and silence.

Then, a sound was heard.

A small, brown rabbit, oblivious to all besides his dinner, was the first to hear it. He tore his beady eyes from his grassy feast for a second to turn them towards the source of the noise. Seeing nothing, he forgot the transaction and turned back to his meal.

But he had not imagined the sound. There was something there.

A huge, black shroud slunk across the cold ground. It moved swiftly, yet with a haughty importance, if a mere shadow could really be that way. Various animals stepped back at the sight of it, even the fearless rats and raccoons recoiled. They didn't know what it was. But their animalian instincts told them it was bad.

The shroud stopped at a clearing in the wood. Slowly, fluidly, it stretched itself. If it had a mouth, it would be smiling. It was victorious. It had overcome that metal prison it had been confined to for fourteen years (plus about eight nonexistent ones, due to time reversions), beaten out those five little brats and that big brat Franz Hopper, and got the Keys to Lyoko. Now, it was time. The world, the galaxy, the universe was all his. He just had to act.

...But what to do first?

Taking out the government would be a good idea. Maybe with gassing. Or cannons. Yeah. Cannons were always fun. But, no. The government would reform itself, the way humans were so quick with reproduction. (Besides, he didn't know where he would get any cannons.). Maybe...destroy a few important buildings. Or contaminate a food supply. It was all such fun...he couldn't decide...

Then it came to him. Yes. The five brats. Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and that horrible Aelita. If four untrained schoolkids and a memory-blanked former untrained schoolkid could keep him from total world destruction and doom, there was no question of survival among the adults of their species. Of course, the adults generally seemed to be stupider than the brats, but he couldn't take chances. So, he just had to get rid of the pint-sized obstacles. Leave their smarty-pants oversized heads to the Kankrelats to eat.

Of course, he could easily just lob their heads off. But, that would leave no culprit. He wanted drama, intrigue, leading to his declaration of ruler over all Earth. And most of all, he wanted it to be fun. Being ruler could take all of five seconds, but the process was what mattered. Something that his subjects would remember forever. And it had to be subtle. Blending.

He began the work. In his mind, he conjured five images.

_An angry-faced boy with brown hair..._

_A Japanese girl wearing all black..._

_A silly looking boy with tall hair..._

_A blond, bespectacled kid, looking very determined..._

_An innocent, pink haired girl..._

He hated the images, but it had to be done. One...two...

The tail of the shroud began to swirl and expand. Now, whatever few animals were left in the forest cleared out. They didn't like this.

Trees swayed. The shroud formed itself into a point, and struck the ground. Somehow, it began to shrink, slowly, compacting itself into something that, somehow, at least tried to be recognizable.

Then, it began to solidify. Swilling wisps of off-black nothingness gathered together and became limbs. Within the swirling mass, an actual, hunched, human body took shape. Usually, it took him no time at all to make a material form, but that was when he was imitating someone else. This time, it was from near scratch. Those kids...though they seemed evil beings, they were the only humans XANA really knew well. Their own features would be their own demise.

Slowly, the new figure, around the height of a preteen boy, stood up, still absorbing the black shroud. Thinking hard, mind split within the confines of a head and the nothingness of shadow, he willed clothing around himself, as he had seen the humans wear. He wasn't entirely sure why, however. As the last of the dark matter retracted into his new form, he dwelled on one thought.

_This...is itchy._

He looked around. Yes...there it was. He eyed a necklace on the dark ground. It had an oversized pendant, with his symbol on it. He picked it up and slung it over his neck. At least a bit of self-identification. Y'know, to instill the humans with fear and stuff.

He brushed his new hair away from his face. He contemplated that human night vision was poor, and did not need further impairment. Even with this small handicap, he could see the hazy outline of Kadic in the distance. He had been there several times before, in the guise of others. But now, it was big. It would take about five minutes to create a file for himself in the federal computer, ten to talk up the...what was his name...with the ugly human...daughter, yes...the 'principle'-and everything would be set.

Now, it was the time for blood.

Confidently, he walked towards the dim lights...and tripped.

_Dang legs._

* * *

_Date: Still the night of 'The Key'  
Time: 11:40 PM  
Place: Kadic, Ishiyama Residence_

As the new human made his way to Kadic, cursing every five minutes, battles were going on in five minds.

Odd couldn't sleep. Even he, who was quick to shrug off dilemma, found it hard to get the situation off his mind. Not only was he scared for himself and his friends, for the threat XANA would pose, and that, he had another problem. The betrayal. Not only of others, but his own. It hit him hard when, desperate for a date, he had asked a rather pretty girl out, and, upon finding out his name, she had politely turned him down, saying she was seeing another, and then as soon as she thought he was out of earshot, whirling around and frantically asking the nearest guy to please, _please_ go with her. Other girls had been less subtle in expressing themselves. Several, most his past girlfriends, had slapped him before he could even talk. Now, Odd lived to please people. But he also liked to please himself. When he saw those girls' faces...he couldn't take it. And Aelita's near-death and the release of XANA didn't make it any better.

Ulrich couldn't sleep. He was as devastated as the spiky-haired blonde one bed over. But not because of several girls. Just one. Yumi. Did she love him, or that scum William? Why would she even CONSIDER liking him? Okay, so he was her age, not to mention her height. Ulrich was a head shorter than her. But, they had FOUGHT BESIDE EACH OTHER in Lyoko, in the struggle to find Aelita's fragment. Unless he had a death wish, William would never recall having done that.

He looked up. His eyes met Odd's. Silently, they communicated their fears, and that neither was going to sleep anytime soon. Satisfied with this, he flumped back onto his bed. Before doing so, he groggily staggered to his nightstand. There stood the picture cube Sissi had given him, an everlasting monument to herself. Sissi. Would that girl EVER get the memo? He thought she was an annoying girl. Hands down. Yet she pestered him, him above all else. It got to him pretty fast. He grabbed the cube and threw it against the wall. Alas, it was plastic. It only cracked a little bit. Yet, this was okay for him. He tumbled back in to bed, to be alone with his stubborn thoughts.

Yumi couldn't sleep. She had tossed and turned all night, trying to find a comfortable spot, but it always eluded her. The shock, if however temporary, of the day haunted her even now. It was even worse when, at dinner, she was asked how her day was. She would have loved to tell her parents and Hiroki about every trouble in her mind. Everything about Lyoko and Aelita. Everything about the tense rectangle she was caught in. But, for now, that was impossible. All she could do now was reach for her stuffed cat, which she had not used since the age of seven, on her first day out of Japan, and hug it until stuffing burst from its seams, with help from her tears.

Aelita couldn't sleep. For her, it was nigh impossible. The last few days had terrified her to her limits. Finding out this man...this psycho...Franz Hopper, was her father...that her own dad would deprive her of an actual life in order to satisfy his rapidly deteriorating sanity...and the shock of rediscovering her own past...her own mother...it was too much to take. And now her torturer, her father's torturer, was beyond limit. And yet, Franz Hopper remained. Truly alone, except for the monsters that XANA left behind. As if they were company at all. XANA could float above her at any moment, ready to kill her as she slept. For that reason, she either had to train herself to sleep with one eye open, or just stay awake the entire night. She grew tired, but she couldn't...not now...

Jeremie slept. He hadn't slept for at least a week, and he was terribly tired. But, I will tell you that he cried himself to sleep, and his fitful nightmares were filled with visions of the Schypozoa, white towers, and increasingly terrifying images of a dead Aelita.

It was the worst day the five had ever experienced. Of course, the beginning of vacation tomorrow would be a slight respite. However, a month later, there was to be no contrast.

* * *

Wow...I quite liked this. 

-SP


	2. Welcome Back To Kadic

Hi! Thanks to all for the reviews! You will all receive love and hugs. For those not used to my ways, review response will be at the forums.

Now, this is a chapter that introduces another OC of mine- Brietta Belpois. She...eeh, you'll see. She's VERY evil. She doesn't even show all her evilish expenditure in this chapter... ;)**

* * *

**

**Chapter One: Welcome Back to Kadic**

_Date: One month later  
Time: 7:00 AM  
Place: The Belpois' Car, Driving Downtown_

"Ugh."

Brietta Bellatrix Belpois (try saying THAT seventeen times fast!) groaned. She adjusted her earbuds, currently blasting a loud techno/rock remix into her ears, and tossed her long, blond hair over her shoulder. She was trying to look intimidating, which she was doing a good job with. Especially with the annoyed look on her face. With her hypersensitive ears, she could hear a faint beeping in the back of the small car.

Ugh. Did her stupid brother EVER get off that dumb machine? Oh sure, he had always been a computer geek. But the past vacation especially, it seemed like he was on it 24/7, making a routine way of skipping meals and running on very little sleep. She wasn't concerned about it. Okay, maybe a teeeeeny bit. But mostly, it annoyed her.

She turned her head from the front seat. "Jeremie, turn it OFF! It's driving us all nuts!"

Jeremie, who was hunched over his faintly beeping laptop, shot her a nasty look to rival one of her own, only tearing his eyes from the screen for a grand total of five seconds. He grunted. "It's important."

"Yes. I see the importance of IMing that weird girl, Aelita," she groaned. "Go ahead. IM her a novel for all I care."

"Shut up."

"Brietta, Jeremie, calm down," their father chirped from behind the wheel. It was the fifth time he had said it, but he was not deterred. At least, once they pulled up to Kadic, and Jeremie got out of the car and disappeared into the whirlwind of students, the car ride would be silent. Almost...too silent.

But, that was in the future. Or, maybe not that far in. Looking out the back window forlornly, Jeremie could see Kadic's gate in the distance.

It was the most welcome thing he had seen in a month. Before he had met Aelita, vacations were a blessing. He had desperately wanted to get away from the bustle, and just be alone with the things he liked. But, now that she was no longer virtual, he couldn't bear them. He knew Aelita was safe, or at least safe enough. She had been staying at Yumi's over the break. But, he could never be too careful. Besides, any home with his sister was no home at all.

What really troubled him was, XANA had been absolutely quiet the entire month. After a month without seeing the familliar green of the supercomputer room, he was actually...quite bored. As a matter of fact, if he had been a bit less prudent (y'know, prudent is where the word 'prude' comes from...and prudent is a compliment...tell that to people. You'll get odd looks), he could have strolled over and perhaps activated a few towers, just to annoy XANA. Hm...he was out of the computer. Maybe he hadn't figured out how to attack without a tower yet. Feh. Dumb, dumb XANA.

Finally, the car slowed, a relief to Jeremie's tense mind. He shoved his laptop into his bag, opened the door, and jumped out before the car had even stopped fully. He did land on his feet-but he lost his balance and fell anyway.

In the car, Brietta laughed to herself. Stupid Jeremie.

Thankfully, he wasn't hurt. He stood up, waved goodbye, and ran off faster than his dad or sister could say anything. (Okay, she's gone now.)

He stopped once he was in the main part of the grounds. He looked around. Friends who hadn't seen each other for months were excitedly chatting to one another. Several were running for the dorms, as to get their rooms to their liking before their first class. He could point out a few people in the crowd- Sissi, trying to avoid Nicolas and Herb- didn't blame her- William, hanging by the science building, looking, probably, for Yumi, and several other people he knew and kinda knew.

Then, his gaze jerked to a stop. He had found Yumi before William had-Ulrich would be happy about that. But he didn't care about Yumi.

Not at the moment, anyway. Guys have a one-track mind like that.

The one he really cared about was standing a few feet away, looking in exactly the opposite direction, at the road, not even aware of him. Aelita. Thank God.

He couldn't restrain his happiness and relief. He ran towards her. "AELITA!"

She, who had previously been looking to the left for him (he had come from the right) spun around, delighted. "JEREMIE!" She took off.

"AELITA!"

"JEREMIE!"

"AELITA!"

"JEREMIE!"

Yumi looked after them. In a way, it was kin("AELITA!")da cute. It had been one of the two's longe("JEREMIE!")st separations, and seeing the two love("AELITA!")ers reunite was a pleasant sight after staying cooped inside her house for a month, with her squa("JEREMIE!")bling parents, annoying little brot("AELITA!")her, and Aelita-at least, she was actu("JEREMIE!")al company. Yep. I sure know how to ramble, don't ("AELITA!") I?

Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Aelita! Jeremie! You're gonna-"

**CRASH.**

"Never mind. The bold print finished it for me."

And, indeed, it did. In their excited haste, our two heroes smashed into each other at high speed. Aelita just fell down, but Jeremie went flying. He landed a few feet away, by Yumi. Slightly dazed, he laughed.

"Yeah. Hi." He got up for the second time that day. "Well, looks like the semester has gotten off to a good start."

"Yep, two falls in ten minutes." Aelita giggled. "So...how was your vacation?"

"Really boring, to tell you the truth. With Lyoko becoming so familliar, it was unusual. I spent most of the time hacking onto military sites, y'know, to stay in practice. And, to check for XANA activity."

"A working vacation?" Yumi cocked an eyebrow. "You're the weirdest person I know."

"Yeah. Sure." Now his attention was on Aelita. "How was your vacation?"

"Probably the opposite of yours-very relaxing." She smiled at him. "It was nice, taking a little break once in a while."

"Mmmhmm, yeh, sure," Jeremie mumbled. "So...where are Ulrich and Odd?"

"Odd's flight comes in an hour. Ulrich'll be here in half an hour." Yumi leaned against a nearby tree. "It's at least an hour and a half before classes start. We're going to be here a while."

"Well, in that case..." Jeremie did the thinkable. He whipped out his laptop and began to type something I guess was important to him.

Aelita and Yumi exchanged looks. It was going to be a long day.

In fact, longer than they had even expected.

* * *

_Date: Two hours later  
__Time: 8:27 AM  
Place: Outside a classroom, Kadic_

The halls of the old school, ready or not to welcome back the steady flow of students, did so anyway. Children ran to classes, hung in the hallway, contributed to the usual pre-day bustle.

All children, that is, except for one boy, leaning against a wall. He was fuming. Fuming at the wait. How could he have been so dumb?

He had known something was wrong, one month ago, when he had struggled up to the Kadic, twenty-seven falls and a not-so-quick nap later, to find the entire school empty, except for a lone janitor, keeping watch by a gate. The janitor was little to no help. He had shooed the boy off the property, shouting after him, "Get off th' place, punk! School's out, y'know, nothin for yeh to steal...or vandlize...or nuttin."

From the guy's unclear speech, the boy had gathered that the school had taken its vacation. Sour luck, but he could take it. He could wait...

Of course, he didn't expect to wait a month. And what a month it was. For most of the thirty-one days, the boy had slept in Kadic forest, walked around town in endless circles, paying attention to nothing, and occasionally stealing sushi from this same sushi place. Sushi actually wasn't that bad. Then, yesterday, he had walked into an intercafe, created a file for himself in the federal computers, and then strolled up to the big fat grey-haired guy and got himself enrolled. Now, all he had to do was wait to be introduced.

He had been human before. But, his sole purpose then had been to destroy and go. He had taken little notice of human social habits. He could be here for a few more weeks, so he had to learn.

He stared intently at the crowd.

He saw nothing of interest to him.

He groaned. This world bored him already.

Then, he snapped to attention. Someone was walking towards him-someone he knew. It was that purple kid...Odd. Quickly, he stuffed his pendant into his shirt. Best to instill fear with a grand entrance.

Odd stopped to look at him. He smiled. "Hey," he said. "Never seen you before. You new here?"

The boy saw the Odd's friends file into the classroom...yet, the Yumi girl wasn't there. Strange. He grunted. "Sure."

"Well, you're going to love it here. All you need to know is, hang with the right crowd. Some people here are real goons." He elbowed him in the gut and walked into the room. As soon as he was gone, the boy, annoyed, took out the pendant. It was almost time. He could hear the teacher introduce the lesson. He knew this was happening. He had been there before, in others' bodies.

"Welcome back, class! I hope you all had a wonderful, restful vacation. Now, before we start our lesson, we have a new student joining us today...his name is...er...well, I can't seem to pronounce it. I'll let him say it."

He knew it was his cue to walk in. With a coy smile, he walked in, back slightly turned, to hide the pendant. He had planned this for weeks. It had to be perfect.

He recognized the teacher, with the lab coat and grey hair. She was staring at a piece of paper with an odd look on her face. She noticed he was there, and looked up. "Ah, there you are. Now, what's your name? It's rather..."

"Yes, I know." He had to sound calm, even if excitement tingled from every nerve. He turned his head around. Drama, time, effect, it was all important.

"I am...XANA."

* * *

Ooooo. 

-SP


	3. The New 'Kid'

Hi, all. Here's the next chapter!

I've been noticing that people have been using...rather ugly...words in reviews. I am a 100 percent believer in the First Amendment, and feel that people should speak freely-but, with the right level of civility. I'm not telling you to stop-First Amendment says you can-just, be careful of what you're saying.

That nonwithstanding, THANKIES FOR TEH REVIEWS! At the forum are responses. You all know where the forums are, right?

Finally, if you're interested, I did some fanart for this over at DeviantArt, with more to come. My username there is Starfigirl.

Hm...and, it also seems, to me, I'm leaving Odd and Ulrich in the dust of this story. Don't worry. They'll have HUGE parts. Oh yes they will.

* * *

**Chapter Two: The New 'Kid'**

_Date: A few seconds later  
Time: 8:31 AM  
Place: Science Room_

Jeremie's mouth dropped open in shock. For once, his amazingly advanced brain stopped, just becoming a soft, pink mass in his head. Of course, that was the state of most brains at 8 am, but for Jer, it was unusual. The shock of what the new student had just said hit him way too hard. He couldn't even begin to try and figure it out. For the first time in...a month, he had no clue what to do.

There was a rather loud thud, and a muffled "Oof!". Jeremie never heard it.

He felt a hand grab his, squeezing very hard, at the threat of immobilization. Only daring to tear his eyes away for a second, he looked over at Aelita. She was in an even worse state than he was-frozen solid, eyes locked in wide, unbridled terror. Even when he tapped her on the shoulder, she made no response. He understood fully. Or maybe not. Who knew.

He turned his head to look at Odd and Ulrich. They fared no better. Ulrich's head was on the table, his body still. He didn't seem asleep, but he was nowhere near awake. Odd was rocking back and forth on his chair, in danger of falling off, babbling under his breath. "I...I..."

The rest of the class was, more or less, uninterested.

Either that,or they were whispering to each other, saying, "What kind of name is _that_?"

Jeremie had to admit that, in retrospect, it was a strange name. But that was no prime concern. He snapped himself back to careful monitor of the terror himself, who had turned around completely.

Surprisingly, the form the AI had chosen was the last one you would expect for XANA. He had chin-length, unkempt blonde hair, with some brown highlights mixed in. He was wearing a dark red hoodie sweater, with a black hood and pocket, very baggy pants that looked eerily like Ulrich's-except that the pockets were black- and black boots, eerily like Yumi's, almost hidden under the pants. He was kinda on the short side-maybe an inch shorter than Jer. His face was calm and collected, yet oddly psychotic.The only real evidence of his true identity was his oddly iridescent eyes, and a black necklace, with an oversized pendant of his own symbol-the Eye, which, for the past two years, had bored into the young genius and his friends' souls, reminding them that they were never alone, never truly able to hide, just so long as XANA stirred.

Mrs. Hertz, oblivious to the fact that an incarination of a sentient intelligence was standing right in front of her, just smiled. "Oh...I see. Well, welcome to Kadic Acaedamy, XANA...Hopper. I'm Mrs. Hertz, the Science teacher. Now, take a seat anywhere you want...I'm sure one of our students will explain things to you."

"Thank you. I'm sure this will be...enjoyable." His voice was like any kid's, yet calm and layered with just enough emotion to get his point across.

Man, he was good and well-rehearsed.

Slowly, he walked down an aisle, looking for an empty seat. Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich didn't even dare to look at anyone else. Now, some feeling came back to their heads, but it brought a slew of questions with it.What was XANA planning? Why had he chosen this method of attack? Why would he brodcast himself, when subtelty would be better means of attack? And why, oh _why _did he smell like sushi?

He sat down in the only empty seat in the room, next to Sissi. He folded his hands on the table, a smirk creeping across his face.

* * *

_Um...the POV's just been switched. Nothing has changed._

Phase one was done. XANA was in.

The humans suspected nothing, except those who where supposed to. Four of the five, probably the ugliest humans in the room (and, he had gathered, humans were not very good looking beings), who were staring at him, wide-eyed in fear. The fifth, Yumi, was missing. But he didn't care. He drank it in. Fear. Panic. Silent pandaemonium. Manna from heaven.

The teacher-person...Mrs...Hurts?...launched into some sort of lecture on...something. He wasn't listening, and he doubted anyone else was either. He knew about Earth science. Stuff explodes. What else was there to know? Oh sure, he knew tons more than that, but, that was the main idea of science. Any science he cared about, anyway.

Casually, he glanced at the floor. He saw something he hadn't expected-a human, in a green sweater, glaring angrily. "What are you looking at?" he spat.

"You," he said cooly. "Shouldn't you be in a seat?"

"I was," the boy growled. "I got pushed out when your smart mouth walked in."

"Mmm." He forgot the boy on the floor, and looked back up. He saw Jeremie-probably the most meddling kid of them all-across the aisle, looking straight at him. He didn't look happy at all-he was trying to look threatening, but he couldn't hide the fear XANA knew was there. Their eyes locked. Neither dared to blink. XANA tried to imagine how he would kill the boy. Perhaps he would suffocate him. Or tie him up and starve him. Or...if he could ever find those cannons...yes. That would be fufilling. His smile grew wider and wider as images filled his mind.

Perhaps ten minutes later, a voice cut into his absorbed train of thought.

"You needed a seat."

XANA jerked away from his and Jeremie's vigorous staring contest and his own blood-filled thoughts, and to the human next to him. A strong wave of nauseous perfume hit his face. Of course. She was the 'Sissi' human, the very first person he had posessed. She had been a good test-run. Very light headed, yet her will was unusually strong. "Eh?"

The girl was looking at him, a small smile on her face. "There weren't any empty seats in the class, so I pushed him out. And good thing too, he's a bit of a nerd anyway. Very annoying, y'know what I mean?" She spoke, not whispering as XANA was seeing many other children do, but in a normal voice, with no regard for any trouble it could cause.

"Yes..."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Sissi Delmas, the prettiest girl in school, and you're very lucky to meet me...XANA. I like your name. Just rolls off the tongue." She ran her hand through her hair, as if to emphasise her 'prettyness'. "So...where are you from?"

XANA was reluctant to talk to the human-no real reason getting to know them, they were all doomed anyway-but he had to blend in. "Um...uh...that place."

"What place?"

"Y'know, that place. With the..." He said the first word that came to his mind. "Sushi."

"Japan?"

"Guess so."

"Strange. You don't look Japanese." XANA could swear he heard some giggling. He took a quick glance across the aisle. The Odd boy was covering his mouth, trying to hide his snicker. Yes. He could laugh now. But, soon, he'd be trading that laugh for a harp.

"I...wasn't born there," he retaliated.

"Obviously," the girl said, not skipping a beat. "I don't think I've ever seen a blonde...Japanesian, yeah, that's it. Anyway, wanna hang out a little after class? I could show you what the 'It' crowd has to offer."

"Not today," he said, having no desire to go whatsoever. "I'm getting my dorm assigned during lunch." While that was true, it was also code for, 'Time to confirm some fears.' That was going to be fun. He loved human fear.

The conversation ended. XANA plopped his head onto the table and remained completely inert until a loud bell cut sharply through all the grounds.

"Oh, well, it looks like it's the end of class," the Hurts woman said, ending her drone. "Have a nice day."

The room began to clear. Knowing that this meant it was time for the next class, XANA packed up his books. The boy on the floor got up, grabbed his own books, snarled at XANA, and left. Sissi, showing no desire to join the boy, leaned against their table. "So...want me to walk you to your next class? Maybe you could tell me a bit more about yourself."

"Nah. I can find my way." He did not voice his annoyance. This girl was very strange.

"Kay. See you later, XANA." She walked away from the table. Phew. Hopefully, relative to the school's size, he'd never see that girl again. Of course, this was his first thought when those four kids had stumbled into his factory, just a few more punks here to grafitti the walls. How wrong he was.

Speaking of those four...rats...he, nonchalantly, calmly...walked to the tables where the rats themselves sat. He gave their stunned faces a sly smile. "Well...fancy meeting you here."

The Jeremie boylooked like he was about to lunge, if it weren't for the Aelita's fingernails digging into his shoulder, a silent attempt to control him. The Ulrich's fingers trembled, he was clearly fighting his own desires.

The Odd actually took action. "You-"

"Yes, me." He looked around the room. "Where is the other one?"

"None of your business," Jeremie said through clenched teeth. The reason he had been so silent was because he had no clue how to react. Except to stare. XANA liked this. It was almost...too good.

"Pfeh. I will find her later." His smile did not falter. "Say...that woman was pretty boring, wasn't she?"

"HOW DARE YOU CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Jeremie broke free from Aelita's grip-she was still frozen in that spot-and grabbed XANA's shirt. "Why...are...you...here?"

"Reasons. Now, I believe I am late to class." With a last smile, he left the room, chuckling to himself.

Aelita went back to gripping Jeremie for dear life. "Jeremie..."

Odd kept staring at the door. "We can't just..."

Ulrich was still shaking."It's..."

"I know." Jeremie's voice was layered in hate. "I don't know why he's here. But, I swear, I will get him back into the computer, even if it takes me to my dying breath."

* * *

Ooo, seriousish. The next chapter is where funny starts.

-SP


	4. Fate is Cruel

Good morning, friends.

Here lies the next chapter of this story! Yay! It took me a while to perfect it.

Just in case you're wondering-I'm making it a new SEMESTER, not a new year. Otherwise, Yumi would be gone. And I don't know if they have UPS in France. Just assume they do.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Fate is Cruel**

_The Dorm Building  
Sometime before lunch_

As all kids knew, on the first day of school at Kadic, classes were cut an hour short, in order that the boarding students could be assigned their dorms. (Day students just mucked around on the grounds.). This meant a good long time of standing in lines, one for boys, one for girls, as Jim took each student to their room individually. Thankfully, after years of this, most students had made up various ways of relieving the boredom.

"Steady...steady..." Odd's eyes narrowed intently as he slowly slipped the caterpillar down the boy in front of him's neck. He resisted a serious temptation to giggle, one sound, and the kid would know it was him.

Nobody wanted to be in front of Odd on the first day. Or behind him. But that's another story.

Further down the line, at least ten kids behind Odd, XANA was a bit less fortunate. He had no caterpillars. All he had to compensate for himself was a loose thread in his hoodie and the mole on the kid in front of him's neck. And the thoughts, thoughts that when his new world order was recognized, there would be no more loose threads, no more stupid moles, simply pain. Pain fulfilled XANA. Others' pain, however.

The classes of the morning had been nothing more than naps. The teachers would go on at length about stuff he already knew about. One of them tried to joke with him, offering him a tissue to clean up his drool. That got a few laughs, which XANA simply grimaced at. Stupid humans and stupid laughter. Stupid happiness.

The Warriors...Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Aelita...would keep shooting him furtive glances, but these he simply chuckled at, and walked away before they could talk to him. They didn't exactly look like they wanted to talk to him anyway. He didn't care. But he REALLY didn't want to run into the Sissi human-which he didn't, thankfully. Maybe he was right.

Further _up_ the line, behind one other kid, Jeremie fumed silently. Here he was, finally, his mortal enemy...it was indescribable. For so long, XANA had merely been a computer intelligence...nothing negotiable, nothing _real._ It was hard to grasp the concept of his humanity. So hard, there was no room to be angry. Or scared, or anything else. It took up that much.

But, slowly, fear found cracks. Now, he and XANA were in the same school. The same class. Opposite sides of the same blade. A blade that felt like it was being held to his back by the aforementioned terror.

He hadn't had any time to tell Yumi about Human XANA. Neither had Odd, Aelita, or Ulrich. Classes were very tight on the first day-they had forgotten. With only a minute between classes, some across campus, they had to rush, no time to talk. And with Yumi a day student, Aelita couldn't tell her in line. He wondered if she would ever know.

Finally, he found a distraction. His name was called.

"Belpois, Jeremie, follow me." Jim didn't really have to call. He grabbed his shoulder and ushered him down the hall. He was used to this. He had done it several times already. He had to admit he was a bit scared the first time. Okay, very scared. He threw up.

After a minute or two of the pain of **ARMPIT**, Jeremie was released in an unfamiliar part of the hallway. After a few deep breaths of fresh air, he opened the door and peeked inside. "Uh...Jim? This isn't my dorm. There's two beds in here."

"Yes, I know that. Due to overcrowding we've had to double up some kids...and one of them happened to be you. Your new roommate should be along soon...as soon as I get him. Yep." He ran off. Jeremie was sorta happy, with the space in his brain not occupied by the remaining shock. (You'd have to be blind not to know where this is going.)

Well, it was time for business. His computer had been brought onto one of the desks, and it would take a good half-hour to rewire. Those office people couldn't tell a USB port from a UPS truck.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in line, XANA was creeping ever closer to the front. 

He saw numerous boys get trucked to their rooms. Since Odd and Ulrich-humans' room was right in the immediate area, he could see they were in the same room. Okay. He understood. He could end up with some stranger. He didn't mind. Test subjects were always welcome.

He heard a yelp from down the hall-the boy in front of the Odd-human had found the crawling tube. He saw several others check their shirts frantically. He chuckled. Humans were so stupid. "Let your screams out," he mumbled. "Better for me to feed."

He was so absorbed, he almost didn't hear his name. That, and the Jim-human pronounced it wrong.

"Okay, uh...Hopper, er...Zay...zee...Zay-na? Um...you kid in front. Follow me."

XANA's eyes narrowed. "It's XANA. Zah-nuh." He stepped forward.

"Okay. Trust me, after this, I'll never forget. You're a new student, right?"

XANA nodded slowly.

"Well then, welcome to Kadic...Zah-nay. Like I said...follow me." He was grabbed as the others were, and pulled away, being told at top speed about schedules and other crap he already knew about.

Finally, after several minutes, he was released in front of a door. He held his hand against a wall to steady himself as Jim-being talked on.

"...because there's severe penalties for that. Okay...here's your room. Your roommate is already in there...I think you'll bond, right?"

"Whatever." Bond...yes. Perhaps. That was a good idea.

Jim opened the door...

* * *

_Back with poor Jer-chan_

As he frantically tried to disconnect the mouse from the keyboard port, the now sweating Jeremie heard voices outside his room.

"Your roommate is already in there...I think you'll bond, right?"

"Whatever."

The first one he definitely knew as Jim. You could recognize that without hearing it. The second voice, which he assumed was a student, was indistinct through the door. Probably his new roommate. Ah well. He'd enjoyed the quiet while he could. He untangled his hands from the wires, desperately wiped the oil on his sheets (he now knew that side was his) and sat down. He took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

The door opened. Jim now filled the doorway, it was impossible for him not to. "Okay, go on in."

"Mm."

The boy walked in front of Jim-slowly, carefully. In comparison to Jim, he looked unnaturally small. Of course, everyone did, but that was beyond the point.

The boy looked straight at Jeremie.

Jeremie looked straight at the boy.

His face bleached.

"Oh yeah, introduction," Jim said out of nowhere. "Jeremie, this is...Zay-nan Hopper."

"It's Zah-nuh, inferior oaf." The _inferior oaf_ was whispered. Didn't want to get kicked out in Phase A.

"Okay..._XANA_, this is Jeremie Belpois, your roommate. Er...bye." He shut the door, leaving the two alone in the room.

* * *

XANA looked around. The room was rather plain, nothing eye-catching. There was a bed, wardrobe, and desk on either side. On one side, there was a messed-up looking computer on a desk-he took careful note of this-and a half-hung poster of some old guy on the wall over the bed. The other side was near empty. 

Then there was the middle. Not much there. Unless you counted the motionless, stammering Jeremie-human.

"You..." he whispered, in shock, in simple, raw emotion. "You...you..."

"I...I...I...is it customary for humans to repeat everything they say three times?" A smirk wormed across his face. He knew perfectly well Jeremie was afraid. But teasing enhanced the rush.

"You..." Jeremie couldn't go any further. He stepped back. XANA remained motionless.

"Well, well." XANA looked around. "_This_ is a bit less then what I expected. Aren't you going to do it?"

"Huh?"

XANA loved this. "Try and destroy me? Reduce me to pieces? Isn't that what you want?"

"Uh..." In a rare burst of daring, Jeremie leaped back and grabbed his disconnected keyboard, ready to swing it at XANA's head. Or at least he hoped so. "I'm...I'm not afraid of you..."

"So I see." He stepped forward, slowly, carefully. He put one finger on the keyboard.

"I suggest that you keep your little toys in a safe place." He pressed down. A small shock, like static electricity, ran through Jeremie harmlessly, but it destroyed the keyboard. Pieces fell off, keys popped. Jeremie gasped and dropped it.

"You see? Now, you can't destroy me. But I can destroy you. That? I was just scaring you. But...soon enough, Jeremie...soon enough..." He laughed a little bit, and looked around.

"Okay, down to business. If I'm going to be...living...here, then I'll have to get used to it, won't I?" He pointed to the bed on the computer side. "I'm guessing that one of these is mine, since there are two of them."

"Yes. _That_ one happens to be mine." At least he could try standing up to XANA.

"Hm." He walked away, picked up a few boxes that were by the door, and dropped them on the bed. He sat down, and looked back at Jeremie. "Now it's mine."

"Rrrgh..." He tried to tell himself that it was nothing to be angry about, it was just a stupid bed. Yet... He reluctantly picked up his suitcase, which was at the foot of the bed, and tossed it on the other bed. "Happy?"

"Pfeh. The way you identify emotion with action is amusing." He got up. "I am not limited by your standards. I am more complex than any set of words can fathom. And unless you understand this...I have a feeling that you will not have too much of that crap you call happiness."

"Now..." His eyes strayed towards the door. "The oaf told me that the time of your energy consumption ritual-"

"Lunch..."

"Is in a few of your human time units. I expect that I must go."

"Uh, yeah, sure..." He couldn't say anything else. Here he was...doomed to a semester sleeping three yards from his mortal enemy. He'd have to train himself to sleep with one eye open or something. Not to mention, no more safe place to meet and do research at the same time. How would the others react to this?

"Figured." He strolled casually to the door, opened it, and slipped out. Less than a second later, he remembered something. He stuck his head back in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah...don't even THINK of looking in my stuff." He ran off.

Of course, Jer wasn't thinking. He was obsessing. As soon as XANA had run down the hall, worming his way through students and to the cafeteria building, he jumped onto the bed and opened one of the boxes.

One had some rather worn-out sneakers in it. Another, a small laptop. Another...well, let's put it this way. As soon as light got into the box, a leg had tried to find its way out-a short, mechanical leg, followed by a small, brown body, with a familiar symbol on it. It cocked its head, and made a clicking noise.

That was enough.

"DARN YOU, XANA!"

He grabbed it, stuffed it back in the box, and tore out of the room frantically.

* * *

I think this is one of the best chapters so far. The best chapter in the entire thing is XANA's discovery of coffee-stay tuned. 

-SP


End file.
